Near-field Raman spectroscopy using a tetrahedral SNOM tip

An example of near-field Raman spectroscopy based on the tip-enhancement at an apertureless tetrahedral scanning near-field optical tip (t-tip) is presented. Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) is based on the excitation of localized surface plasmons (LSP) in the cavity of tip and surface. The LSP provide a highly confined and large field enhancement at the tip apex which allows molecular spectroscopy at the nanoscale. The t-tip consists, in contrast to other TERS configurations which use opaque tips, of a gold coated glass tip which is irradiated from the inside. We demonstrate TERS spectra of the dye malachite green isothiocyanate and show an increased bleaching of the dye in presence of the tip. Data analysis show that the actual experimental conditions support moderate enhancement of the Raman signal.

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